


At Least His Stuff is Safe

by ElizaCove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Abusive Vernon Dursley, Awesome Molly Weasley, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Child Abuse, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24415885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaCove/pseuds/ElizaCove
Summary: When Ron, Fred and George try to rescue Harry from the Dursleys before second year, they fail.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 203





	At Least His Stuff is Safe

**Author's Note:**

> I know this been done before but I couldn't help myself. Literally pumped it out in one day so if there's any writing mistakes let me know. Thanks for reading!

Harry had woken to a flying car outside his barred window. After the ruckus of removing the bars, Harry was sure that everyone in the house, the whole street even, would wake up, but everything stayed silent. 

Fred and George had climbed in and picked to lock on his door to go grab his things from downstairs while he stayed and packed, handing everything to Ron as quickly as he could.

He thought he was in the clear when Hedwig let out a loud squawk. 

“THAT RUDDY OWL!” 

How could he have forgotten about her? Uncle Vernon was going to storm in any second now and see what was happening.

As quickly as he could, he grabbed her cage and as he was passing it over to Ron, the door slammed open to reveal a furious man. His anger intensified as his eyes landed on Harry, and then the car right outside his second floor bedroom.

Harry had just enough time to jump before his uncle wrapped his thick arms painfully around his waist. George had managed to grab Harry’s hands but he knew the tug-of-war wouldn’t last long.

“GO!” Harry yelled, “GET HELP. I’LL BE FINE.” He wished he could believe himself as his hands finally slipped and he was pulled back into his room. 

The car stayed there for a moment longer and Harry had to tell them again to leave before they drove off. A sick feeling settled in his stomach as he saw them go. All of his things, save for his wand, had gone with them. That and possibly his only chance at escape. 

His attention was directed away from that however, when Uncle Vernon spun him around and pinned him to the wall by his neck. He delivered a painful slap to the side of Harry’s face and tears welled up in his eyes. 

His uncle had never hit him before, or at least not so hard. And never the face.

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” he spat, “do you think you’re doing?”

Harry knew better than to respond. Any answer he could give would only serve as more fuel to the fire.

When his nephew stayed quiet, his grip around the boy’s neck tightened and he was thrown to the ground. His foot connected with Harry’s empty stomach. His ribs, his back. Even after he’d curled up into a tight ball on the floor, his uncle kept kicking, completely oblivious to the damage it was causing his bare feet.

By the time he stopped, the nail on his big toe was broken and he could see Harry’s blood, where it had punctured. 

Still breathing heavily, he grabbed Harry’s wrist, which was holding tightly to his head, still trying to protect it as best he could, and pulled on it to drag him away.

Out in the hall, down a painful flight of stairs, and in front of the cupboard.  _ His _ cupboard. Uncle Vernon somehow already had the key in his hand and was going to unlock it when he realized it was open. 

He swung the door open to reveal nothing was inside. None of the  _ mag- _ none of Harry’s school things were there.

An image of Harry passing his owl to those people crossed his mind as he shoved the boy with as much strength as he had back into his old bedroom. He locked the door before heading back upstairs.

Harry laid there, not even his flimsy mattress to support him as the pain in his body grew. All of his thoughts seemed to be on hold except for what had just happened. His uncle had beat him. The stinging and pounding intensified as his mind was brought to just a few minutes ago. He felt detached, like it’d happened a long time ago, or even to somebody else. But no,  _ he _ was the one laying in the dark.  _ He _ was the one who’d be sporting a body of bruises for the next few weeks. Not that he’d be moving much.

He’d almost gotten away. Was so close he could feel the hope in his body stirring for the first time in who knows how long.  _ At least Hedwig is free _ , he thought. She’d be able to spread her wings. He hoped Ron would make sure she ate well. He probably wouldn’t be getting any food for a while. His thoughts, now flowing freely, carried him into a restless half-sleep.

When Harry woke up, he could already tell that it was going to be a long day. His bruises felt more pronounced and his muscles were more sore even than when he woke up in the hospital wing after fighting Quirrell. However, having grown since he’d been to Hogwarts, he couldn’t stretch himself out. He was stuck in a cramped position, pain flaring everytime he tried to move a muscle.

It was then that he heard his family. His stomach growled as the smell of whatever they were eating for breakfast crept into his cupboard. 

_ No. _ Willing his stomach to shut up had never worked before, and he didn’t expect it to now, but he could still try.  _ You’re not hungry. You can survive without food. _ His stomach made another loud sound of protest as if to say  _ I most certainly can not _ so Harry gave up and just tried to ignore it.

Harry was trying to ignore everything, especially everything outside his cupboard, which is why when someone knocked on the front door, he was undisturbed.

***

Molly Weasely had been sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her boys to return so she could chew them out. She was expecting them to try to creep back inside to their rooms and hide the fact that they’d been out all night in an illegal stolen flying car. What she hadn’t expected was for them to come running inside with tear stained cheeks all trying to talk to her at the same time.

It took a while before the message got across that Harry was in trouble. Molly immediately took action, conjuring a patronus to send to her husband and trying to keep her kids calm while she waited. 

It hadn’t been long when Arthur stepped through the door in a rush. 

“Molly! Is everything okay? I got your message. What’s happened.” He looked around as if trying to find something out of place. His eyes landed on the three of his kids who sat there still silently crying. 

“We need to go,” Molly said, “I’ll explain on the way.” 

She gave a quick kiss to each of the kid’s foreheads before they were out the door.

“They tried to go get Harry. They think he’s in some kind of danger at home.” She grabbed Arthur’s hand and apparated them both to Privet drive.

The door opened to a very skinny woman. Her face was most comparable to that of a horse. When she saw them, her pleasant smile morphed quickly into disgust and fear.

“Hello. I’m Molly Weasley, are you Petunia Dursely?” 

“You’re not welcome here.” the woman said and promptly slammed the door in their faces.

Molly was not about to accept that. She was about ready to blow the door down when Arthur stopped her.

“Why don’t you let me handle this dear.”

He used a simple spell to unlock the door and the two of them slipped inside. Petunia screamed when she saw them.

“Vernon! They’re inside the house!”

Arthur stepped up. “We only want to make sure Harry is okay. We think it would be best if he could come home with us.”

“That boy isn’t going anywhere!” Vernon Dursley had appeared around the corner. His face was as bright as a tomato as he stared them down.

“Oh? And why is that?” Arthur asked, still smiling but behind it was clearly threatening.

“ _ That _ ,” Mr. Dursley said, “is none of your  _ ruddy business _ .”

Molly suddenly stepped forward with a sickly sweet smile of her own. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to go look for him.” And she walked off.

“OH NO YOU-”

Arthur pulled out his wand. If his wife wanted to look for Harry then he wouldn’t let these people stop her.

There weren’t many rooms on the bottom floor so she finished there quickly. When she went to the second floor, she found the bedrooms. In particular, she found a rather empty bedroom with a few books and broken muggle toys, a beat up old mattress, and on the middle of the floor, was Harry’s wand.

She picked it up gently and looked at it. Of course, she wasn’t sure what Harry’s wand looked like as she’d only met the boy once, but he was the only wizard who lived in this house, so there was no other option.

She marched back down to where everyone was gathered.

“What did you do to that boy?” Her tone was dangerous. Vernon was a scary man, but even if they weren’t wizards, he still would’ve shrunk away from the woman. 

“ _ Nothing _ .” he spat. “After the incident last night, he ran away. I haven’t seen him since.”

“Do not lie to me. Harry Potter would know better than to run away without his wand. Now  _ where is he _ .”

The Dursley’s, all of them, stayed silent, too afraid to answer in fear of the consequences.

A sudden light thump was heard just down the hall. It would’ve been inaudible had it not been so silent in the house.

Molly and Arthur watched as Mr. Dursley’s eyes widened in anger and fear, and they knew they weren’t going to like what they found.

Another thump directed them to a small cupboard under the stairs. A cupboard with a lock on it.

The door was quickly opened to reveal a small boy curled up on the floor. They could see his arms were covered in bruises. When he saw them, he tried to sit up but the effort was too much. Molly caught him before his head reached the ground. His neck, she could now see, also showed signs of damage.

He was clearly in pain as she gathered him up in his arms. Without sparing a glance at anyone else, she made sure he was secure and marched out the door, Arthur quickly on her heels. They apparated back to the burrow.

Arthur ran ahead to shoo everyone out of the way and collect some medical supplies.

Though he had told everyone to go back up to their rooms, they all stubbornly helped him gather everything and clear the couch. A couple seconds was all it took and Molly was setting Harry down and waving her wand over him. He’d passed out on the way over.

Her brow creased more at the list that sprouted from the tip of her wand. 

“I need the bruise cream.” Molly said as she carefully cut Harry’s shirt off of him. Underneath was all purple. “Arthur, go contact Dumbledore and anyone else you can think of who might be able to help. Those people can’t get away with this.”

She began applying the cream in liberal amounts all over his torso and neck. A small amount on his face as well.

When she finished doing everything she could, she sat back. Ron was standing close, staring at his best friend, a constant stream of tears running down his face. She reached out and wrapped him in a tight, motherly hug which seemed to distress him more. He held tightly to his mother and sobbed.

***

When Harry first woke, he was disoriented, but otherwise feeling much better than he was expecting. It took him a moment to realize he was no longer in his cupboard. Not even in his house. There was a light shining through a window not far from him. The material underneath him felt forein. 

He opened his eyes and there was a plump red-headed woman sitting across from him. She didn’t seem to realize he was awake.

“Harry!” a voice he recognized shouted.

He whipped his head around to see Ron staring at him with a wide smile on his face.

The older woman who Harry assumed to be Ron’s mom jumped up.

“Harry! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” She rushed over to him and looked him over.

“Um. Fine, I guess?” He realized that he did indeed feel fine. He looked down and realized his chest was bare, of clothes and marks. His eyes widened and he startled slightly as he remembered what had happened. 

“Where am I exactly?” he asked. The woman smiled at him

“You’re at the burrow, mate.” Ron replied instead. “You’ll be staying here the rest of summer. It isn’t much but it’s home.”

Harry looked around the room. He could see into the kitchen where dishes were cleaning themselves. A clock on the wall had nine spoons instead of hands, each with a little face on them. Out the window, he could see all kinds of plants growing haphazardly all over the place.

He turned back to his friend and smiled. “I love it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know this was pretty short and a lot is left unsaid, but I hope it left you satisfied enough that you don't leave feeling empty. If you do let me know cause I hate it when that happens. Love you all <3


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